


Every Breath

by CullenNSteenysmom1



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Cancer, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Punk Rock, Unconventional Families, Wrestling, bone marrow transplant, comic books, road-wives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-13
Updated: 2012-11-23
Packaged: 2017-11-18 13:31:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/561588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CullenNSteenysmom1/pseuds/CullenNSteenysmom1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Cause when I needed a place to hang my heart,you were there to wear it from the start and with every breath of me you'll be the only light I see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting Chris

October 2007

Two men waited patiently inside a Barnes and Noble along with thousands of other people. Both of them were rather short in stature. The slightly taller of the two had black hair and dark brown eyes, he bounced on his heels with excitement. The shorter male rolled his eyes, although he was just as excited he hid it better.

"Relax Mike." The shorter man chastised his long time friend. The one called Mike ignored his friend. Nothing could ruin this moment. In just a short thirty minutes he would meet his idol Y2J himself, Chris Jericho.

"But he's going to be here." Mike remarked. He felt like a little child on Christmas morning. But with all the excitement he could not forget the promise he made to their other friend. The two men usually were accompanied by a young woman. But the woman could not make it to the book signing. "Lex would understand."

"Well Lex is not here and your bouncing around like an idiot is annoying the hell outta me." The shorter brown haired man snapped.

"Come on Keith lighten up." Mike grinned at his companion. Another male approached the twosome, he was taller than both the other two men. His name was Cesar. He smiled at Keith and Mike before giving them both hugs.

"Where's Lex?" He asked looking around for the only female member of their group. Keith and Mike looked at each other. Both frowning simultaneously.

"It came back." Was all Keith would say. "This time it does not look good." Cesar looked to the ground then. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Why am I just hearing about this now?" He asked a little hurt that three of his friends could keep something like that from him.

"We only found out like two days ago. She called us to explain why she could not come with us today." Mike explained. "I guess she's known for a few months now but never said anything."

"Foolish ass woman." Cesar shook his head in disgust. "Did she make you promise to tell him anything for her?"

"No, but she sounded so disappointed that she could not go that we decided to try and get Jericho to say hi to her on the phone or something." Keith said before shrugging. "It's worth a shot right?"

"Yea I guess." Cesar agreed.

"Come on guys I know the situation sucks but we are here going to meet Jericho." Mike was ever the optimist.

–

"We're next guys." Mike could barely contain his excitement at that point. He was about to meet his idol. The only way this could be any better for him is if Ronnie James Dio was there too.

"Next." The security guard yelled. Mike made his way up to Chris Jericho. The blonde wrestler smiled at the young man as he approached.

"Hi." Jericho greeted him. "What's your name?" He asked as Mike handed him the book.

"Michael." Mike managed to get out after having some difficulty. Jericho signed the book and handed it back to him. "Can I get a picture with you?"

"Sure." Jericho motioned for him to take the seat next to him. Mike practically skipped over to his hero. Keith, who had the camera, stepped forward.

"Ok smile guys." Both men smiled for the camera.

"Chris, I just want you to know that you are like my idol and all I want to do is give you a hug right now cause you are that awesome."

"So do it." Mike's jaw hit the floor. He looked at Jericho for a moment. The blonde wrestler had stood up and was waiting. Without having to be told twice Mike was on his feet and embracing the older man.

"I never want to let go." Jericho just laughed.

"Me either." He played along. Then it got weird. They broke their embrace. Mike gathered his book and was about to walk away when he remember Alexia.

"Hey Chris I really do not want to bug you but one of my best friends is a huge fan of ours too but she couldn't be here today because she is battling leukemia. If I called her would you say hi?" Mike knew he was being a pain in the ass now but he knew it would make Lex's year.

"Jimmy, I am going to take a five minute break." Jericho announced.

"Dude seriously you couldn't have waited till me and Cesar got our books signed!" Keith exclaimed.

"Come with me guys." Jericho requested of them. The three friends followed Jericho towards a back corner of the store. "You guys are serious right? This isn't some kind of joke?"

"No, we're serious as a heart attack." Mike piped up. "Our friend Alexia or Lex as we call her, had leukemia when she was ten years old and then she has been in remission until a few months ago. She's twenty-one now and it's back with a vengeance."

"Dial the number." Jericho handed Keith his cell phone. Keith did as requested and handed the phone back to Jericho.

–

Alexia "Lex" Marren was looking up at the ceiling of her hospital room. She was still really upset that she could not accompany her friends. The chemo was just way too much on her body. She couldn't even stand up on her own anymore, so forget about standing in line.

There was nothing on TV at that time of day and she was too restless to try to read a book. So she just forced herself to stare at the ceiling. She did that a lot now a days to keep herself from crying. She tried to be strong but sometimes it just became too much. How does one be cheerful when they know that they could die at any time?

Her cell phone started ringing. With much more energy than she would have liked she lifted herself into a sitting position and reached to grab her phone on the bedside table. She did not recognize the number but answered it anyways.

"Hello." Her voice came out raspy. That bugged her to no end but what was she going to do. There was nothing that could be done.

"Hi is this Alexia?" The voice on the other end of the line seemed familiar but she could not place it.

"Yes this is she."

"Lex, this is Chris Jericho." After hearing those words she just broke down. Her friends had somehow gotten Chris Jericho to call her on the phone.

"I am so sorry Mr. Jericho it's just that this means so much to me." she sobbed. As much as she tried to calm herself down she just couldn't.

"How are you doing Sweetheart?" Chris asked.

"I've been better." Lex laughed through her tears.

"Yea, I bet you have." Jericho agreed. "You have some great friends here Lex. They made sure I knew about you."

"They are great guys." She had finally stopped crying. She was now beaming. This was probably the closets thing to Make A Wish she was ever going to get.

"Listen Lex I have to be going but you rest up and get better."

"Alright. Thank you so much for calling me. You have no idea how much better I feel now that I have talked to you." Her words tugged on Chris's heart-strings. She was so young and from what he could hear in her voice, so brave.

"Bye bye Sweetheart." He hung up the phone. He placed it back into her pocket. "Before you guys leave would you write down Lex's full name and the hospital information. I would like to send her some signed stuff."

All three men grinned at him. They agreed to give him the information he asked for. "Hey since we are all here can we get pictures too?" Cesar asked.

"Sure." After all the books were signed Keith jotted down the information on a small piece of line paper. Chris stuck it in his pocket.

After he was all done with his signing he took the now crumpled up piece of paper out of his pocket.

Alexia Marren

Massachusetts General Hospital

Blake & Ellison Building 13th floor

Room 1324

"Well Ms. Marren what do you say to a surprise visit?" He smiled as he stuck the paper back into his pocket. He figured him showing up to see her would mean so much more than anything that he signed a sent to her.


	2. Meeting Lex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris meets Lex and vows to do everything in his power to help her.

"Chris, are you sure about this?" Jake, the head of his security detail asked. "If you insist on going to that hospital I really think you should bring a guard with you."

Chris shook his head no. "I will be fine. This young lady is very sick and I do not want to freak her out by having a huge security guard follow me into her room."

"He could wait outside the room." Jake suggested.

Chris scowled. "Yes because that will not draw attention. I am going in alone. End of story." With that he got out of his limo and entered the front entrance of one of the world's biggest hospitals. After asking for directions and getting lost twice he finally found himself in the Blake & Ellison building. He took the elevator up to the thirteenth floor and tried to keep from being noticed as he searched for Alexia's room.

It took him a few minutes and he did have to stop once to sign an autograph but he finally made it to the room. He knocked and waited a few seconds for someone to yell come in. He walked in and shut the door behind him. There were two very worn out looking people sitting in chairs on either side of the hospital bed. Chris guessed that they were her parents.

The woman looked up at him. "Hello." She said.

"Hi, my name is-" he started to say.

"Chris Jericho." the man said for him. "She told us she talked to you on the phone earlier. But I must say I am very surprised to see you here."

"I hope it's alright that I am here." Chris said feeling a little uncomfortable. "Just hearing the way her three friends talked about her it made me want to meet her in person."

"She'll be very happy that you are here Mr. Jericho." the mother smiled at him. "She's been sleeping for an hour or so." the mother stood up and went over to her daughter. "Lex, Honey you have company." he gently shook her.

Lex opened up her eyes and stared with confusion at her mother. "Who's here?" she asked.

"Chris Jericho came to visit you." Lex's face lit up and with her mothers help she sat up in the bed. Her face then turned bright red.

"Hey Chris. I cannot believe you're here." The smile on her face was worth the trip to Chris.

"I had to meet you after meeting the group of clowns you hang out with." he chuckled.

"Lex, your father and I are going to go get something to eat at the cafeteria." then she turned her attention to the wrestler. "I am sure that you two have wrestling stuff to talk about and won't miss us."

"Ok mom. See you later." She waved her parents out of the room. Once they were gone she let out a sigh. "I get that I am sick but I am not a child anymore. They really do not need to be here all the time."

"It doesn't matter if you are two or forty-two. You're parents are always going to be there for you. I am speaking as someone who has children now." Chris said taking one of the now vacant chairs.

"I guess." Then she smiled again. "I still cannot believe that Y2J himself is sitting in my hospital room talking to me."

"Well believe it because I am here." He took a moment to really take Alexia in. She looked so small propped up against a pile of pillows. She was so thin, she had to weigh less than one hundred pounds. She had these beautiful blue eyes that were sunken into her skull. On her head she wore this dark blue bandana to cover up her bald scalp. But even in the sickly state she was in when she smiled she lit up the room.

"I am sorry for my appearance. If I had known you were coming I would have done something better with my hair." Chris stared blankly at her for a moment. Then she laughed at him. "It was a joke. I don't have any hair." Chris couldn't stop himself from frowning. "Come on Jericho it was a joke. If I didn't have my sense of humor things would be really bad."

Chris looked around the room. The walls plastered with cards and pictures and magazine cutouts. "I like the way you decorated."

"Thanks. But I cannot take credit to any of it. All my cousins and friends did it."

"So tell me a little about you." Chris requested.

"Hmm. Let's see well when I am not in the hospital I enjoy hanging out with my friends and my two dogs. I am a huge animal lover and have been known to have more than once found stray animals around the town where I live and have taken them home. I like to read and I also write short stories and poems. But most importantly I have had an on and off love affair with the WWE since I was in diapers."

"Who was your favorite wrestler growing up?" Jericho asked. He found it interesting that she said she had been watching wrestling since she was in diapers.

"Well I don't remember this but I have been told that during my toddler years I was obsessed with The Ultimate Warrior." She shrugged. "Apparently my mom bought me those plush dolls that they had in the early ninties. She got me Hulk Hogan and The Warrior and I would not touch the Hogan doll but I brought the Warrior doll everywhere with me and even slept with the damn thing."

Jericho laughed. "When I got older I was really into Stone Cold and the Rock. I think Rocky might have been one of the first guys I ever had a crush on. I am not sure but I think he was. It was around then that I got sick the first time. My dad waited outside the old Boston Garden one night and got The Rock to sign a hat for me. Still have it to this day."

"Who's your current favorite wrestler?" He asked. She bit her lip and shook her head no. He looked at her confused.

"My favorite wrestler died. I don't have one anymore." She explained. "If anyone comes close to my favorite right now it's probably Finlay. He's awesome because he's Irish. I used to like Randy Orton too but I don't really care for him that much anymore. I really like John Cena but that might have to do with the fact that he is from Boston too."

"Do you like movies?" Chris asked.

"Of course I do." Was her reply. "Who can honestly say they do not like movies?"

He felt foolish for asking such a stupid question. She was right of course. "What about music? What is your favorite genre?"

"I like all music for the most part. I am really not that big into Hip Hop or R&B but there are some songs I like. I mostly listen to Country music or Classic Rock like Springsteen or Bon Jovi."

They talked and joked around for another two hours before Chris announced that he had to leave. She thanked him for taking the time out of his busy schedule to come visit her. He stood up from his seat and leaned in to hug the small woman.

"Take care Sweetheart."

With one last wave he left the room. Her parents were waiting in chair outside the room. Each reading a magazine. They stood up when they noticed Chris.

"Thank you so much Chris." Her mother reached out to touch his arm. "It means so much to all of us that you visited her."

"Is there any hope of her getting better?" He asked.

"They are doing tests now but more than likely her only chance is a bone marrow transplant." Her dad said.

"Well that should be easy one of you have to be a match." Lex's mom let out a loud sob and walked away. She shakily lowered herself into a chair and began rocking back and forth.

Chris looked with fearful eyes at Lex's father. The man shook his head sadly. "Lex's best chance would have been if her brother was a match but he is not. Neither are we."

"Isn't there someone else in your family that can help her?" Chris asked.

"They have all been tested but so far none of them are a match." the father continued. "We are now looking into donor registries but even that is pretty slim."

"There has to be something to help her." Chris reasoned. "Is it possible that someone who is not related can be a bone marrow match."

Lex's father nodded. "It is possible yes. The chances are small but it has been known to happen."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Chris asked desperate to find some way to help this young woman's family. He couldn't figure out why after just one mere meeting he had become so personally invested but he had. Maybe it was merely because she was so young, not even in the prime of her life again. Or maybe it was because her three best friends had been so insistent that he talked to her. If they could make the effort why shouldn't he right?

"You coming to visit her was more than enough. But your prayers wouldn't hurt either?"

"How does one find out if they are a bone marrow match?" Chris asked curious as to how the whole process works.

"Well you have them swab your mouth for cells. Then they compare your HLA levels. The levels are matched on a six point scale. In order to be a match one either has to be a six out of six to be a perfect match or a five out of six. They will not bother with anything less. It is all very confusing."

Chris stared at the man as if he had just spoken a different language. He had been right it was all very confusing. But a harmless cheek swab seemed simple enough. He would make an appointment with his family's doctor first thing the following morning.

"Thank you again for coming to see her." The older man gave Chris a smile. "She will not soon forget your kindness." They shook hands and Chris went on his way.

As Chris left the building he couldn't help but think there had to be something more he could do for this young woman. He had seen her face just come alive the moment her mother announced that he had come to visit her. All he knew at that moment is that he would be staying in touch with her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A desperate Chris gets some help from a very unlikely person

Christopher Irvine or Chris Jericho as his fans knew him by had gone back to his hotel room that night and read everything he could about bone marrow transplants. His head was spinning by the time he stopped. He still was no closer to understanding any of what he had read but he felt he had to try. He looked at the clock on the night stand next to his hotel room bed, it read wall past two A.M. He knew he needed to sleep, he had to meet with Vince at the corporate office in a few hours. He shut his laptop and went over to his bed. He laid down but he knew he was not going to be able to sleep.

–

"Chris are you listening to me?" Vince McMahon asked as he stared at the blonde wrestler. Chris had his head resting against his hand. His eyes were half closed as he stared straight ahead.

"Huh- I mean- Sorry Vince I had a horrible time trying to sleep last night. I met this young woman yesterday who is dying of leukemia. And none of her family is a bone marrow match." Chris explained. "It just bothers me that she will die without this transplant."

"How did you come to meet her?" Vince asked.

"Well I was at my book signing yesterday and her friends came to it and asked me to call her. They explained how bad off she was and I could just not call her. She seemed so sweet on the phone I wanted to meet her." He shrugged before running a hand through his shaggy short hair. "Now I kinda wish I hadn't because she is all I can think about. She must feel so helpless. I know that is how I feel right now."

"Well I am sure they are trying everything they can to help her." Vince reasoned. "But there is only so much that can be done."

Chris nodded, knowing of course that Vince was right. "But maybe there is something we can do." The owner of the WWE said. Jericho looked at Vince strangely. His eyes seemed to brighten up as he waited for his boss to speak. "Maybe she could come to Raw and we could ask our viewers to get tested."

"Vince are you feeling alright?" Chris asked. "I have never heard you to be so generous."

"What can I say I am a sucker for a good sob story. That and I have a feeling it would be good for ratings."

"And there is the Vince McMahon I have come to know." Chris smiled. He didn't mind that his boss was using this young girl's story to earn some good press if it helped her out as well. He was so excited he could not wait to call Alexia up and tell her.

Vince noticed the change in his employees attitude right away. Chris sat up straight and his whole body seemed more at peace. He was smiling and just simply happy that he could help this young woman even if it was just in the slightest way. Vince found himself being curious of the young stranger that caused such a strong reaction in one of his best talents.

–

"Really Chris he wants us to come to Raw?" Lex beamed as she talked to the WWE superstar on the phone. He parents waited eagerly in their chairs near the foot of the bed. Keith, Mike, and Cesar were there as well. They too were dying to hear about what Chris Jericho had told their friend the moment that she got off the phone.

"Chris I have to go now because I have five pairs of eyes glaring at me to find out what is going on." Lex managed a laugh. She hung up the phone and stared right back at the people who were staring at her.

"Well?" Her mother finally asked exasperatedly.

"Vince McMahon has invited all of us to Monday Night Raw next week. He wants to make a public appeal to all the fans to have them get tested for bone marrow."

The three young men in the room let out whoops of glory. Even her parents looked excited. The parent sat back as they watched their daughter and her three best friends plan on what they were going to do when they met all their heroes in person.

It gave them great joy to see their daughter look so excited again for the first time in so long. When they first discovered the cancer had came back she had tried to act like everything was normal but as time went on she was just to tired to pretend that she was alright. But she never complained, she never asked why this was happening to her. No she had accepted the fact that this was happening and she could honestly say that if they could not find a match and she did in fact pass on that she had a very short but very fulfilling life.

Then Alexia stopped smiling. A sad frown crossed over her features. Both parents looked concerned at their daughter. "I can't go." She said sadly. "How am I supposed to leave this hospital when I am hooked up to all this stuff?" She asked gesturing at the various iv tubes that littered her arms.

"We will figure something out Honey." Her mother, Diana assured her. If she herself had to carry those damn machines on her back she would do it so her daughter could meet those wrestlers.

"Your mom is right. I am sure something can be worked out." Ted, her dad added.

"If you say so." But the excitement was gone from her eyes. Now they just had the dame dull look they always had.

"Your dad is right Lex. I am sure something can be figured out." Keith agreed with her parents. He placed his hand on her cheek. "You are going to be alright. Someone out there has to be a match and Vince McMahon has seen fit to help us out."

"You are right." She forced her most convincing smile on her face. The believed it though because they wanted to believe it. She knew this of course. "If it's alright with you guys I am going to sleep for a little while. So go home and do something productive with your lives." She grinned at them.

Somewhat reluctantly her friends left followed shortly by her parents. Her mother had been a hard on to get to leave but eventually her father had convinced her to go. Not before she promised to be back in a few hours.

Lex let out a sigh of relief. She hated when her friends and family came to visit her. She always felt like she needed to put up a brave front for them. Sure she had accepted the fact that she would probably not live to see her next birthday. But that did not mean she did not have her moments, the moments where she let the tears fall. Because she did. This was one of those times when she cried because she just simply was overwhelmed. Did she want to die? No of course she didn't but she knew it was inevitable. She would rather it be her than some poor little toddler just starting out in life. For now she would pretend that Vince McMahon could help her live. But she didn't really expect much.


	4. I Wanna Hold Your Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex goes to Raw to meet the superstars and to tell the world about bone marrow donations. She also has a run in with The Second City Saint.

Here Alexia sat on a huge private airplane, hooked up to an oxygen tank due to low air pressure from being up so high. She was flying from Boston to Boise. And all she could think about is what the hell was she going to do in Boise. The rest of her party was napping. When Vince had was going to bring her to Raw she never even imagined that part of bringing her would be to have her travel in a private plane. She just shook her head amused, he must have really wanted the ratings. But she found herself becoming more excited. She could not believe that her doctors had let her temporarily get discharged. Of course the moment she arrived back to Boston she had to go back to the hospital.

But she was out in the world. She had never left New England before this moment. She was going to savor it for all it was worth. She sat by the window and looked out into the endless sea of clouds. They were almost at their destination. She could not keep the smile off her face now. That giddy excitement that she tried so hard not to have was hitting her in waves. But how could she not be excited?

Mike was the first one to stir. He made his way over to her, he sat across from her and gave her hand a friendly squeeze. "Hey, how was you nap?" she asked him with a smile.

"Good." He replied. He felt just as excited as she did. He could barely contain it. He felt ready to jump out of his skin at any moment. "You get any sleep?" He asked.

"Dude all I do is sleep." She shot back at him. He grinned at her. "What?"

"Who are you most excited to see?" he asked her.

"I dunno." She shrugged. "Everyone I guess. I just wish I coulda met Stone Cold. That would have been epic." She looked over at the rest of the people traveling with them. Her parents, and Cesar and Keith. Then she bit down on her lower lip. "Do you think this is really going to work? That I will really find a match?"

"Yes, I firmly believe that this is going to work." He smiled at her. "You are too special to leave this world this young." He patted her hand again.

"I don't know Mike. Sometimes I am very hopeful but other times I just want this all to be over. I don't want you to think that I am some depressed person. Although if anyone has the right to be it is me. But I am just so sick and tired. It hurts all the time and I just don't want to live like this anymore. Especially when I know it is only going to get worse." she looked away from him so that he could not see her get upset.

"What you are feeling is normal Lex. I can only imagine how you feel on a daily basis. I am scared shitless for you so I can only imagine how you feel. But I honestly have faith that everything is going to be ok. You just need to hold on a little longer."

"I guess I can do that." He rolled his eyes because she made it sound like such a huge sacrifice. But in her case he guessed it was.

–

She was furious, never in her life had she been more embarrassed then she was at that very moment. And she had done some seriously embarrassing things back in her teenage years. After getting off the plane they had met up with Chris at the airport. He had been there holding up a huge sign that said her name on it. All the while wearing a goofy grin as he did so. Holding onto Mike and Keith's arms for dear life she slowly made her way over to him.

"Hiya Sweetheart." Chris greeted her with his customary nickname that he bestowed on her.

"Hey Jericho." She replied back once she was close enough. When had walking become such a hard task for her? She could not remember.

"Lex you need a wheelchair." Her mother insisted.

"I am fine Ma." Lex remarked annoyed. Her mother had been at her since before the plane landed about the damn wheelchair. "I am not an invalid" She was stubborn to a fault. Chris couldn't help but notice this new aspect of her personality.

"Please Honey. If you fall-" Lex shot her a look that told her to quit while she was ahead.

"So I will break a hip or something." The young girl shot back. Her mother gave her father a look. She wanted his help.

"Alexia, please just humor your mother." Her father urged her. Lex rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She snapped. "Go get the stupid chair." Her mother walked off and she glared holes into her back. "You know I am not a child." She said more to herself than anyone around her.

"It's not that bad Alexia." Chris said very carefully. "In fact sometimes I wish I could have people push me around in a wheelchair." Her facial expression softened and she smiled at the WWE superstar.

"Thanks for attempting to make me feel better." She said. Her mother came back with the wheelchair. Reluctantly Lex had a seat in it. "Well you guys can get on with it now."

–

"So Lex you will be very pleased to know that there are a lot of people who want to meet you." Chris told her as he guided the small group through the halls of the backstage area of the arena they were in. The Taco Bell arena was huge backstage. It was so much bigger than Lex could imagine, and she had tried to figure out what the backstage of a WWE even would look like.

"Like who?" Lex asked. She was currently trying to take everything in. She wanted to memorize every detail of what she was seeing.

"Well Vince really wants to meet you. And so does Hunter and Shawn. I think John Cena said he wanted to meet you as well." Lex's face perked up a little bit. Chris thought maybe he had seen a small smile form.

"Could I meet Randy Orton?" she asked. "I really liked him while he was in Evolution."

Chris looked hesitant for a moment. "We'll see." She nodded in acceptance. Randy Orton was not a bad guy by any stretch of the imagination but he had a temper and the last thing Chris wanted for Lex was to have to deal with any verbal whiplash from a certain third generation star. But then he smirked from what he had seen of Lex so far on this trip he thought that maybe she might give Orton a run for his money when it came to temper.

Sure enough Vince McMahon was waiting for them near the catering area. Lex couldn't help but notice how much bigger he looked in person as opposed to the television.

"Hello Lex." He bent down so that he was her level. "I have heard a lot about you."

"Thank you Mr. McMahon I cannot tell you how much this means to me and my family." Then she laughed. And motioned for Vince to come closer. He did as she requested. "I think my friends are about to have strokes." She whispered in his ear. They both turned to look at three equally stunned young men.

"I think you are right." He agreed. Then he straightened back up. " If all of you would follow me through these double doors there are some people who want to meet you."

Chris held one door open while Keith got the other one. Her mom wheeled her slowly into the room. Mike was walking next to her holding her hand. There were people everywhere, she squeezed Mike's hand tightly. There were people she had grown up watching, and some new faces that she had come to like. She felt like she might cry, to her this was like Christmas. She had no idea what to do first.

"Everyone this is Alexia." Chris announced. He gave the sick young woman a smile and wink. He laughed a little at her expense as she sat there starstruck. "Well go on make some friends."

"I dunno. I am so overwhelmed." Was all she could say.

The superstars seemed to be having the same reaction. That was until a certain Glamazon stepped away from the group, dragging her partner in crime Anthony "Santino Marella" Carelli with her. "Hi Lex." The tall blonde Diva greeted the young woman. "How are you?"

"A little freaked out at the moment. I feel like this is a very incredible dream." She looked over at Mike who was standing there with his mouth wide-open. He worshiped Santino Marella. "Excuse me Mr. Marella would you mind saying hello to my friend Mike he is such a huge fan of yours."

Santino's face perked up. "Of course I will. But please call me Tony."

"Ok Tony but you have to call me Lex." She smiled at him.

"Deal." Tony agreed. He patted her on the cheek before going over to talk to Mike.

"Beth please don't leave me." Lex begged the female wrestler. "I am so nervous. I have no idea why but I am."

"I am here until you tell me to leave." Beth stood next to the young wheelchair-bound woman.

The next superstar to come up to her was Jeff Hardy. Much to Lex's delight because she was such a huge fan of his.

"Hello Darlin." Jeff said flashing her a smile.

Lex felt that she could literally pass away at that very moment and it would have been ok with her. There she was talking to Jeff Hardy, her childhood hero.

"Hi Jeff." Lex sniffled. She just could not control her emotions any more. Her body erupted in silent sobs.

"What's the matter?" Jeff asked concerned. He felt bad that he had made her cry.

"I am such a huge fan of yours. My best friend Katrina and I have followed you and your brother Matt since your debut. We used to pretend to be your guys. She was always Matt and I was always you. Just seeing you here brings back such amazing memories." Jeff Hardy was so touched at that moment. Sure he had had some emotional fans but there was something about Lex's admission that touched his heart.

"You have no idea how good that makes me feel Lex." He gave her the biggest smile in the world. He wrapped his arms around the sick young woman's tiny frame. "I am going to win my match tonight for you." Lex nodded and wiped away her tears.

"Thank you." Jeff walked back over to the group in order to give someone else a few minutes to talk to Lex. The next one to walk over was Ric Flair. Lex felt she was going to jump out of her skin.

"Dad, it's Ric Flair." Lex beamed at her father.

"Hello." Ric said quietly.

"It is wonderful to meet you." Lex could not stop smiling even if she wanted to. "I grew up watching you on television. My dad won't say so but he is a big fan of yours."

Ric looked Lex carefully. She was so happy that she was literally beaming. It broke his heart that she was so sick. Now he knew why Chris had been so insistent on helping her. Ric himself had a daughter her age. He could not imagine what he would do if it was her who was sick.

"Have you been watching wrestling long Lex?" Ric asked.

Lex nodded. "Only like my whole entire life. Although I do take breaks. But for the most part I have been watching since before I could remember."

After about an hour she had met pretty much the whole Raw roster. Her parents were busy talking to Chris and her friends were candidly chatting with various wrestlers. She looked around, nobody was really watching her. It was hot in that particular room so she decided to take a few moments to just be alone and get some fresh air. She rolled herself out the now open double doors that lead to the catering area.

–

Lex was bored and utterly lost. She was going to turn back when she saw a lone figure sitting on a production crate. He was clad in a pair of black cargo shorts and a black hoodie. Now normally her mind would scream at her to go the other way but she felt bad for the man sitting all alone. Without thinking twice about it she rolled her wheelchair up to him.

"Hey." She said coming to a stop just before the crate. He looked up at her with almost annoyed green eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked giving away that he was very annoyed.

"No I am good just wanted to say hi." She replied. Then she looked him up and down. "Cool tattoos."

"Are you supposed to be back here?" He asked.

"Yea Vince knows I am here. It was his idea to bring me."

It was his turn to look at her. Sitting there in her wheelchair with her oxygen attached she looked so frail and helpless. But she was smiling and there was this sparkle of amusement in her eyes.

"So you sick or something?" he asked taking a minute to look at his phone.

"No, I was just a little too excited about my skinhead costume for Halloween." Was her reply. He looked back up at her a little surprised by her blatant sarcasm. "You're that guy. The straightedge one. Uh- CM Punk right?"

He nodded. "I think that is really cool." She gave him her approval. "I was never into drinking and drugs either."

"But aren't you on morphine right now? That's a drug." His tone was almost condemning.

"Dude, I am dying. I have no choice it's either the drugs or I am in the worst pain you have ever felt all the time. As it is I am still in pain." She explained. "I could say the same thing about you 'Mr. I Don't Do Drugs Yet I Drink Coffee And Pepsi' caffeine is a drug too ya know."

"Did someone send you over here to torture me?" He asked.

"No, I kinda escaped from all the people who were watching me. I needed some air, you know some time to be by myself."

"Yet here you are with me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well at first I was just coming over to say hi but now I like this conversation. The sarcastic banter is refreshing."

"So what is wrong with you?" He asked but then he mentally winced. The question came out all wrong.

"I have leukemia." She explained. "I had it before when I was younger and I was in remission for a long time but it came back and the chemo and radiation are not enough. I need a bone marrow transplant. That is why I am here Vince wants to make a public plea on my behalf."

Punk shook his head. "Sounds like something that crazy old man would do."

"Hey if it helps save my life I cannot really complain." She shrugged. "I wish I could have met all you wrestlers when I was healthy." Then she laughed. "You probably wouldn't have given me the time of day though."

"Why is that?" He asked.

"You have that I Hate The World vibe going on right now. You remind me of the kids I hung out with in high school. The ones who were bitter and mad at the world but really had no reason to be." His eyes narrowed. "I mean think about it this way, you have a job I am guessing you spent most of your life working hard to get. You have your health, dude you have hair." He couldn't help back crack up at the last part. "So you really have no reason to complain but yet you walk around with a chip on your shoulder telling everyone to fuck off."

He looked at her stunned. How could she possibly know that. She then smiled at him. "I can read people very well huh?"

"You have no idea what you are talking about." He retorted. He crossed his arms over his chest. He felt uncomfortable. Nobody could possibly be that intuitive with a complete stranger.

"Uh huh- sure thing buddy." she remarked with a smug grin. They both suddenly looked up when they heard people shouting. "Shit." She cursed. Then she turned towards him with pleading eyes. "I will pay you a thousand dollars if you do not tell them that I am here."

"Now why would I need your money." It was his turn to smirk. Then next thing she knew he opened up his mouth. "She's over here!" he shouted back to the mob of searching people.

"You're a douche bag!" She exclaimed.

"Now who's mad at the world?" He asked feeling good about his retort.

"Obviously still you. I am not mad at the world but I am mad as hell at you at the moment."

Soon her parents and Chris came into view. None of them looked very happy with her at the moment. Punk sort of felt bad for ratting her out. "See ya later." He said as he hopped off the production crate he had been sitting on and strolled off.

"Jerk." She yelled after him. She could hear him chuckle as he walked down the hallway.

Her family caught up to her. Her mother looked like she was not sure if she wanted to ring her neck or cry.

"Mom I swear I am alright. It was just a little too hot in there so I rolled out into the hallways and ended up getting lost. And then I started talking to one of the wrestlers."

"Well let's just get you back. There is no need for you wondering all over the place." Lex rolled her eyes when her mother turned her back.

"It's alright guys I will wheel her back." Chris offered. "I just wanted to show her something real quick."

"Alright." Ted ushered his over-worried wife away.

"What did you want to show me?" Lex asked.

"I wanted to show you one of my favorite places to think." He started wheeling her away from the direction that her parents had went. He wheeled her through the gorilla and down the ramp to where the ring was.

"Wow." She looked around at all the empty seats. "This is the coolest thing I have ever seen."

"You wanna go in the ring?" Chris asked. She give him a 'did you really have to ask' look. Carefully he helped her removed her oxygen and then climb into the ring.

"This is amazing." She stood holding onto the ropes.

"Come here." He patted the spot next to him. She walked over and had a seat next to him. "Lie down." She did as she was told and he did too. "Sometimes I come here and just stare up at the ceiling."

"What do you think about?" Lex asked.

"My family. I have a wife and three kids but you probably already knew that." he looked over at her.

"Yea I did. Your wife's name is Jessica. And your son's name is Ash and you have twin daughters Cheyenne and Sierra." He didn't bother to look surprised. He was a public figure and knew his information was out there.

"I told them about you." Lex raised an eyebrow. "I told them how I met this brave young woman who is battling this horrible disease. Every time I talk to Ash on the phone he asks about you."

"Tell him that I am doing alright and that knowing her cares makes me want to fight harder so I can meet him."

"I will." Chris promised. "But now it's time to get you back. Your mother is probably frantic."

"You're probably right."

–

Vince McMahon's music hit. A very somber looking owner of the WWE walked down the ramp. Tonight he did not do his usual strut. No he walked slowly, he could hear crowd booing him. Well some of the crowd, there were cheers too. He got into the ring and motioned for a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I am here. Not as Mr. McMahon the character you all love to hate. Tonight I am here as simply a man trying to send a message. About a week ago I was told about a very special young woman, her name is Alexia Marren, and she is very ill. Alexia or Lex as she likes to be called has leukemia and will die if she does not receive a bone marrow transplant." He paused there. Trying to figure out what to say next. "America she needs our help. I am asking each and everyone of you to go out and have your bone marrow tested. If you are not a match for Lex then maybe you can help someone else. The WWE is setting up a program within the National Bone Marrow Donor Program for Miss Marren. Please one simple cheek swab could save the life of someone battling leukemia or many other cancers." The Raw theme music began to play and Lex was rolled out by her new personal hero Beth Phoenix. She had a microphone in her hands.

"Hello all you WWE fans out there." she waved to the camera. "I cannot force you to go and register your bone marrow. But I can strongly encourage you to. More than ten-thousand people people are out there right now waiting to be matched with a bone marrow donor. About half of them will be successfully matched. But if every single person in this audience and those of you watching at home registered with The National Bone Marrow Donor Program we might just actually be able to save those ten-thousand people. So on this very night I am asking that you all stand with me and save lives. Because together we can. Thank you." With that she gestured for Beth to wheel her backstage. But not before she heard the crowd cheering her name.

–

"You did such a good job Sweetheart." Chris hugged her tightly. "Ash was watching tonight and he wanted me to tell you how cool he thinks you are and that he was cheering your name right along with the crowd. My wife had to remind him that he was at home in our living room." They both laughed a little.

"Thank you Chris for everything you have done for me." She hugged him again. "I don't think I can ever thank you enough."

"You can by getting better." he playfully tugged the bandana she always wore down over her eyes. She groaned and fixed it.

"Come on Lex we have to get going." her mother reminded her.

"Call me?" Chris asked.

"You know it dude." She started to wheel herself over towards where her parents were standing.

"Hey Lex." She turned her chair around to come face to face with The Legend Killer himself. "That was a really brave thing you did out there."

"T-thanks Randy." she found it hard to phrase words at the moment. Even though she swore up and down that she did not like Randy Orton, the man or the character, she really did.

"I have my eye on you now kid. You'd better get better and come visit us again."

"I will Randy I promise." she gave him a grin. "And I never break my promises. But if you are ever in Boston look me up."

"Will do Kiddo. Have a good night."

"I cannot believe my life right now." She shook her head and continued wheeling over to where her family was waiting. "Life is good." She told them when she reached them.


	5. Maria To The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria convinces Phil to go with some of the wrestlers and divas to get tested.

"Phil get your ass up." Maria hit his head with a pillow. Phil groaned and pulled the pillow over his head.

"Go away Ria. I fell asleep like an hour ago." He groaned knowing that she was not going to go away. He removed the pillow and lifted his head up to look at the clock which read six-thirty AM. "What the hell why are we up so early?"

"Because a bunch of us are going to a local clinic to get tested to see if we are a match for Lex before our flight. You are coming too."

"Who the hell let you in here anyways?" He asked getting up and walking over to his suitcase. He threw on a shirt before turning back to face his ex-girlfriend. They were still good friends though.

"Your roommate." Maria replied placing her hands on her hips. "Now hurry up and put some pants on so we can leave."

"I will be having a few words with Anderson." He grumbled searching for a pair of shorts to put on. He finally found a clean pair and went into the bathroom to change. He returned a few moments later. He had taken the liberty to brush his teeth and comb his hair while he was in the bathroom. "You are so buying me a very LARGE coffee." Was all he said as he walked out the door.

The man known by his fans as CM Punk found himself stuck in a car with Maria, Randy Orton, Beth Phoenix and John Cena. Luckily for him it was a SUV so he had the whole back row to himself.

"Do you really think that if none of her family members were matches that any of us will really be?" Phil asked. He had nothing against the girl whom he had met briefly. But he did not like the idea of them sticking a huge needle into his hip to extract the bone marrow if by the small chance he was a match. Yes he had done his research.

"I never hurts to try." Maria chided the grouchy sleep-deprived man as she drove. Soon enough they were parking in front of a small brick building. Maria hopped out of the car and was soon followed by Beth.

"They aren't going to stick us with any needles right?" John asked as he got out of the car as well. He was not a big fan of needles.

"Nope." Maria assured them. "They are just going to swab our cheeks. Just think of it as practice if any of you guys ever get slapped with a paternity suit." She laughed before making her way to the door of the building.

Phil shuffled into the building behind the rest of his co-workers. He watched them write their names down on a piece of paper at the front desk. Stifling a yawn he wrote his name down too before having a seat next to Randy.

He leaned his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. He must have drifted off because they next thing he knew Randy was shaking him. "What." He snapped.

"The nurse is calling your name." Randy remarked before he elbowed the straightedge superstar in the ribs.

"Douche." Phil muttered before he stood up and followed the nurse behind closed doors.

"Alright Phil I am going to ask you some questions." the nurse said once they were both seated. Phil shrugged.

"Do you have any medical conditions that would make you not be able to donate your bone marrow?" she asked.

Phil gave the woman a strange look. If he did have some medical problem that he was aware of did she really think he would try to give his bone marrow away. He shook his head, people were idiots. "No, at least not that I am aware of. As of right now I am perfectly healthy."

"Do you smoke?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Drink?"

"No."

"Do drugs?" he held up his hands so she could read the words 'Drug Free' that he had tattooed on his knuckles. She blanched a little and returned her attention to the notes that she was taking.

"Alright let's just get this over with." she pulled out what looked to be a very large q-tip and brought it over to where Phil was sitting. He opened his mouth and she swabbed the inside of his cheek. A little harder than he would have liked. Once she was finished she placed the swab in a plastic container and then into a baggy. "You are all set."

"So how long will it take to know if one of us is a match?" Phil asked.

"A few days." Was her reply. "Someone from this office will give you a call with the results in a few days either way. If you do happen to be a match then you will have to have a complete exam and then some blood tests. After you have been cleared then they will do the extraction."

"How does that work exactly? I read that they just stick a needle into my hip."

"It's a little more complicated than that." she walked over to him and lifted up the back of his shirt. She pressed down on his lower back where his hip bone was. "This is where they will insert the needle. They will probably stick you a few times to get enough marrow and blood. After that you will be in the hospital over night and discharged the next morning. You will feel a little discomfort. Most people who have donated say it simply feels like they fell and bruised the area."

"Thanks for the information." he said before leaving the exam room. The whole way back to the waiting room he prayed that he was not a match. It wasn't that he did not want to save Lex. He wanted her to get better but he was not sure that if he was a match he could go through with it. The thought of doctors taking a part of him and sticking it into another person scared the shit out of him.

"Hey, how'd it go in there? Was your nurse a little too touchy feely like mine?" Maria asked making a face. "It creeped me out."

"No my nurse was not a pervert." Phil laughed. "It went alright. But to be perfectly honest I hope I am not a match." he regretted the words after he said them. Maria got this disgusted look on her face. He pulled her over to a secluded section of the waiting room. "Before you hit me or something please let me explain." She frowned but made no motions to walk away. "What I meant was I do want Lex to get better. She seems like a nice kid from the two point five seconds I met her." He sighed. "But I dunno. The thought of having someone take a part of me and put it into someone else scares me."

"Well why couldn't you have worded it like that the first time?" Maria scolded him. "It would have saved me from thinking you were a complete asshole. It is perfectly natural for you to be scared. I am scared too but I could not live with myself if I didn't try to help. Chances are neither of us will be a match but at least we can say we did everything we could."

"Yea, you are right Ria." He agreed.

"I am always right." she insisted.


	6. Cupcakes and Birthday Wishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex gets a visitor who makes celebrating her birthday in the hospital not so crappy.

Things were getting worse, Lex could feel it. She could feel what little energy she had left was slowly fading from her. She slept most of the time, but she always made sure that she managed to stay awake to watch Raw.

But today was not like any other day, today was her twenty-second birthday. And what did she ask for? To see her beloved dogs again. It had been almost four months that she had been in the hospital and she missed them terribly.

She had just finished checking her Facebook page and had tons of birthday well wishes. Half the WWE had texted her phone by noon. She smiled at that, even with their busy schedules they thought about her enough to wish her a happy birthday. There was a loud bang outside her room and the next thing she knew there was a mass of white and brown fur rocketing towards her.

"Stinky!" She explained when the furball in question jumped up onto her bed. His tail was wagging a mile a minute and soon he had her pinned to the bed and was happily lapping at her face.

"Springsteen, bad dog." Ted grabbed the pooch by his collar and pulled him off his daughter.

"Leave him alone dad. He missed me." Lex looked over towards the poor. Her other dog Cullen was having a very hard time being still until she called him over. "Come here Cull." Her mother let go of the leash and Cullen took off much like his older "brother".

"There's my boy." Lex cooed when her younger dog was on the bed with her. She could not have asked for a better present. "I am so happy they let you bring them in."

"It was a fight. Your mother and I were at the vet yesterday making sure they had all their shots. It was not fun." Her father grumbled. "The little one peed all over my leg."

"He was just nervous." she scratched behind Cullen's ear. "The WWE is blowing up my phone." She laughed. "So far Beth, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, John Cena, and Chris. Oh and Vince called cause he does not know how to text. He didn't say that but I think that is why." She laughed.

"Well that was very nice of them. Any news on if any of them are bone marrow matches." Diana asked.

"No, but it's only been like a week and a half. I am sure we will here soon though." Lex remarked.

"Lex is right hun." Her father agreed.

"Where's Cam?" Alexia asked noticing that her brother was missing. Not that her brother ever came to visit her anyways. He didn't like hospitals.

"He had a very big mid-term that he was studying for but he swears he will call you later on." her mother explained.

"It's fine." Lex said. She shrugged it was like she was very close to her brother anyways. But it would have been nice for him to show up to see his dying sister on her birthday.

"No it isn't." Her father argued. Her mother shot him a look which tipped Lex off that they had been arguing on the way here about it. She just ignored it and just simply took comfort that her dogs were with her.

–

Phil could not believe he was doing this, but yet he found himself taking an elevator up thirteen floors. The bell dinged and the door opened and off he stepped. "Now which room did Maria say it was." He asked himself. "I think she said it was thirteen-twenty something"

After stopping at the nurses desk to double check the room number and ask directions he made his way to the room. There was a woman standing outside the room. She looked upset she had just hung up her phone was Phil approached.

"Hello." she said putting her cellphone back into her pocket. "Are you here to see Lex?"

"Umm-yea. I'm Phil." he said.

"Are you one of the people in that wrestling group she's in. You know all the people who go over Cesar's house every Monday to watch Raw. I've never seen you before. I could have sworn I met all of the group."

"Yea I am." he smiled. She did not know who he was. He was alright with that. "Is it ok if I go in and see her?"

"Yes of course." she opened the door and allowed him to step into the room. Her father stood from his chair when Phil walked into the room. Astonishment crossed over his face. He obviously knew who he was.

"You're-" He started to say. But stopped when they both heard a loud growl coming from the bed. A small black dog was standing on the bed looking ready to kill the WWE superstar.

"Cullen knock it off." Diana scolded the dog. "Ted have you met Alexia's wrestling friend?"

"Di, he's-" once again he was interrupted but this time by Phil.

"Just a friend." He would have felt bad if the poor woman felt embarrassed for not knowing who he was.

"She's sleeping right now but I am sure she'll want to see you." Ted explained. "Come on Di let's go get some coffee."

As they walked out Phil couldn't help but hear Lex's mother say that he seemed nice and that she liked him. Phil smirked, boy was she wrong about him. He was not nice at all and he still had no idea what he was doing there standing in Lex's hospital room. He sighed before taking the seat Ted had vacated. The little black dog had laid down but he was still staring in Phil's direction. There was another dog as well. He was laying next to Lex's legs, he happened to be too busy sucking on the blanket to be to notice Phil sitting there.

Lex groaned. "Stinky the bed is all wet now." She opened her eyes and was surprised to see Phil sitting there. "Hey Punk what are you doing here?"

"I don't think we properly met last time. Hi my name's Phil." He said. "You can call me Phil if you want."

"I dunno I kinda like Punk better." She shifted and the little dog sat up again. All the while he looked ready to attack.

"Nice dogs you have there. Especially the little one who looks ready to kill." Phil remarked.

"Cully it's ok he's my friend." she patted the dog on the top of his head. "They are here because it's my birthday and that is what I asked for. To see them." she smiled. "Don't mind Cullen he's very protective of his owner. And well Springsteen he's not very bright. But he loves people." At hearing his name the bigger dog lifted his head up. He noticed the new comer in the room and got off the bed. He woofed and then placed his head in Phil's lap.

"Hi dog. Does he not get personal space?"

"Nope." She laughed as the nearly fifty pound dog tried to jump up into Phil's lap. She let out am all out snort when he succeeded.

"Ok dog get off of me."

"Steeny down." The dog immediately got off the wrestler's lap and returned to the bed with his master.

"Sorry about that like I said he loves people. But now I return to my original question what bring you all the way to Boston."

"Well I had a few days off and I went home to Chicago to see my best friend Natalie. She's a huge wrestling fan too. So she asked me about you and I told her that your birthday was today and she made you these." He reached into the duffel bag he had with him and pulled out a box. He opened the box and there were cupcakes inside.

"You came all the way from Chicago to bring me cupcakes?" She asked incredulously.

"That and I wanted to apologize for ratting you out to your folks. That was low." he said.

"Already forgotten. Life it too short to stay mad. I am just glad you came to visit me."

"Ok then." He placed a cupcake on the bedside table and then pulled out a lighter and a candle. "Make a wish." He lit the candle before placing it in the cupcake.

She thought for a moment before nodding and blowing out the candle. She closed her eyes and opened them again. "Wow it worked." She said.

"The wish?" He asked. "What did you wish for?"

"That a really attractive wrestler would come and visit me." Phil raised a brow.

"You think I am attractive?" he asked surprised.

"Duh. I have followed you since you started with the WWE. I would have followed you in ROH too but by the time I heard about it you were already gone." she said. "I am kinda a noob to everything that isn't WWE."

"So how long have you been watching wrestling?" he asked he felt that was a good enough question to start with. It was obviously something they both had in common.

"As long I can remember. When I was real little my dad would come home from work and get me out of my crib and we would sit there in his big recliner, wrapped up in a blanket and watch. That is probably one of my earliest memories."

"Who's your all time favorite wrestler?"

"Stone Cold nuff said." He nodded. He could respect her love for Stone Cold. He himself was a huge fan of the Texas Rattlesnake. She took a bite out of her cupcake. "Aren't you gonna eat the other one?" She asked.

"No, I don't like frosting." He told her.

"Gimme a I will take the frosting off with a knife." She held her hands out for the baked good.

"That is just a waste." He insisted. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine I will eat the frosting off but you have to eat the rest." He shrugged and then handed her the cupcake. She began eating the frosting off the damn cupcake.

He began laughing really hard. She gave him a look. "You have frosting all over your nose." Then he pulled out his phone. "I want a picture of this." He got close so that he was in the picture too. She held both her thumbs up and they both smiled.

"I want a copy of that." she laughed as she wiped her face. Then she handed him back the now clean cupcake. "Don't worry I do not have herpes of the mouth or anything." she smirked at him.

"So how do you know those three?" He asked pointing to a picture of her and her three best friends.

"Well I met Keith while working at a video store. He threw out a TNA reference that I just happened to get and then we started talking about wrestling. From there he introduced me to Cesar and Mike. We watch all the WWE events in Cesar's basement."

"Until you got sick right?"

"Yep, now I am stuck here watching on that shitty ass tv. But at least I can still watch. There would have been a war if I couldn't." she took another bite of her cupcake.

"Now how can you sit there and eat that and those dogs are not going nuts?" he asked amazed as both dogs just laid there not bothering to try to take the cupcake.

"They know better. I do not share food. And soon I will not be able to eat so I am enjoying everything now."

She opened her mouth to say something but then shook her head and shut it. He gave her a look. "Come on now you have to tell me what you are thinking."

"Well I was just wondering that in a world where it is so easy to drown your problem away with cheap booze and drugs what made you decide to become straightedge."

"Well that's simple, my dad. He was an alcoholic but even though he was never abusive or anything like that just being a kid and watching him struggle it really opened my eyes. My dad with his alcohol and my mom with her pills. It made it real easy to say no."

"Sound kinda like my life except it's just my mom. She drank while pregnant with me and I was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. She blames herself for me being so sick. She thinks that maybe if she had took care of herself better than maybe my immune system would be better. That is why she is so over-protective now. Because she feels guilty."

There was a moment of silence and then Punk's cell phone rang. He gave her an apologetic look before answering it. She watched him as he talked on the phone. His face was neutral until the very end of the call when she swore he looked a little sick.

"Thanks for letting me know." He said before hanging up the phone.

"Everything alright?" Lex asked concerned.

"I'm a match." Was all that he could say. They both looked at each other astonished.


	7. Dealing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Lex and Phil deal with the shock of learning he is her match. Also Lex gets a little quality bonding time with her favorite little people.

"Punk-" But he just shook his head. She could have sworn she had seen tears as he rushed past her bed. He left without another word. Leaving her a bewildered mess.

–

It had been two weeks since she heard from the wrestler. She had tried getting in touch with him by asking some of the other wrestlers for his number but they were pretty good at evading her. So she just sat and waited until eventually he decided to get back to her. After all he was her only chance, he would not let her die. Would he?

She had not told anyone about what had transpired between her and Punk while they were alone in her hospital room. She was not sure why she did not tell anyone but she hadn't she felt that it was up to him to tell people. It was his body, not hers.

She was deep in thought when she felt something bounce off the side of her head. She blinked and looked up to see Mike standing there with her three year old cousin Nick.

"How's you end up with him?" She asked beckoning them closer.

"Your uncle is in the hall with Mak. This little guy tried to escape. I think he really wants to watch Raw tonight." Mike answered.

"Of course he does." she held her arms out for the toddler. The blue eyed boy grinned as he crawled up to her. "Hey little dude." She kissed the top of his head.

"Hi." he replied back. "Look new car." He held up his newest toy car. Lex rolled her eyes because the boy had probably close to three hundred more at home.

"What's taking Fred so long?" She asked Mike.

"I don't know he was on the phone with someone. I'll go grab Makenzie." He returned a few minutes later with Nicholas's twin sister.

"Hey Peanut Butter." Mike placed the other toddler on the bed with her. "They are cute when they are this age and you can get them to say anything." He laughed. He himself was already an uncle to a ten year old boy and eight and five year old girls.

"Yea." She agreed.

"Oh by the way your uncle wanted me to give you this. I guess it was at the desk." he handed her a small package. She took it from him and tore into it. She pulled out a small frame with the picture she had taken with Punk in it.

"When did you meet Punk?" Mike asked looking at the picture as well.

"I met him at Raw and then he came to visit me on my birthday." Lex explained.

"Why?"

"Why what?" she returned his question with one of own.

"Why did he come to visit you?" He asked.

"I honestly have no idea but he brought cupcakes that his best friend made and they were amazing."

"Wait so you sat here and ate amazing cupcakes with CM Punk two weeks ago and I am just hearing about it now?" he asked a little annoyed.

"Yea pretty much. What's with the attitude?"

"Because there was a WWE superstar in your room and you did not tell me. What if I wanted to eat amazing cupcakes too."

"You don't even like Punk. You says he sucks all the time. You also a quick to point out that he cannot really be straightedge."

"What is the rule?" she rolled her eyes.

"I cannot meet any wrestler without the other group members a with me. But I did not know he was coming. I still have no idea why he was here. And you pretty much got to meet the whole WWE roster because of me so I think we can let this one little visit slide." she shot back.

"Ok, you may have a point. So what was it like?"

"The visit? It wasn't any different then when all of you visit me. He sat in a chair and we talked. Then he left. End of story."

"You two look awfully close in that picture. And we all know you used to have the hots for him." then he winked at her. "I am just sayin-"

"Michael."

"Lex when does wrestling start?" Nicholas asked.

"In about thirty minutes Buddy." she hugged her little cousins tightly to her. Enjoying them while she could. "Who are we rooting for tonight guys?"

"We dunno. Who?" Makenzie asked.

"How about we root for CM Punk tonight." She sent a smirk in Mike's direction. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yay! We can cheer for Punk." Nicholas approved.

"Yay Punk!"

Raw was now on. Keith and Cesar had shown up a few minutes before it started. Now her three best friends and her two little cousins all had their attention to the small television screen. She took the envelope that her picture had come in and was about to throw it away when she noticed something white sticking out of it. She stuck her hand into the envelope and pulled out a note. She unfolded it and read what it had to say.

Lex,

I am sorry for leaving the way I did. I will call you after the show tonight. Promise.

-Punk

–

After Raw had ended they all sat around talking about things. Mostly new movies and music they liked. Nicholas had fallen asleep against Lex's chest but Makenzie was wide awake. Her cellphone began to ring. Makenzie grabbed it before Lex could.

"Hello." She answered the phone.

Punk was surprised to hear a little girl's voice answering Lex's phone. "Hi honey is Lex there?"

"Who's this?" Makenzie asked.

"This is Lex's friend Punk."

"Ohhh Punk. Like the guy on TV."

Mike's eyebrow shot up. "Mak gimme that." Lex held her hand out for the phone.

"Bye Punk." She handed the phone over. Lex rolled her eyes at the younger girl.

"Hey."

"Is this a bad time?" Punk asked.

"Sorta." Was her reply.

"Do you want to call me back later?"

"No, it's alright."

"Ok well you don't really have to talk. I want to apologize for just bailing like I did. I was in shock. I still am."

"I understand."

"Part of me is scared." He admitted.

Lex felt a pull on her heart strings. If there weren't people in the room right now she would totally have awed. "That is perfectly natural. Nobody can fault you." She wanted so badly to tell him that she was scared too.

"I feel like such a prick doing this over the phone." He ran his hand through his long hair.

"You aren't." She argued.

"Yea sure I'm not." he began to pace. "I want to come see you. I am thinking about flying out tonight."

"You don't have to. You really don't." She could feel all eyes on her as the four grown men and the one little girl stared at her.

"Do you not want to see me?" He asked a little hurt.

"No, of course I do. But I realize that you are a very busy guy. Please just stay and we will work something out."

"I guess." He realized that she was right. He could not just go rushing off to see her just because he wanted to. The fact that he really did want to scared him a little bit. But then again he really cared for the girl and did think of her as sort of a friend. "By the way who is the Rug Rat who answered the phone?"

"Her name is Makenzie, she's my cousin." Lex answered. Makenzie beamed up at her once she heard her name. "She was very impressed by you tonight Punk. I think you might have another female after you."

He laughed. "No thanks I enjoy not being in jail."

She made a face. "Ewww." Then she yawned. "I think I am going to kick everyone out and get some rest. I will call you tomorrow."

"So we are good?" He asked. "You are not mad at me?"

"No, I get you had your reasons. I trust that in the end you will do the right thing." her words touched him.

He on the other hand was not so sure he would do the right thing when it really came down to it. But then again he could not live with himself if she died because he was a coward. He knew that he needed to sit down and do a lot of soul searching.

"Good night Kiddo."

"Night Punk. Sweet dreams when you go to sleep."

"You too." He sighed when she hung up. He truly was a horrible person. There was no denying it at all.


	8. Say It Loud, Say It Clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex gets to meet Ash and then has a argument with Punk.

There was a knock on her hospital room door. She yelled come in as loud as she could but given her weak state it did not come out very loud.

"Hey Sweetheart." Chris pushed her door open. He mad his way slowly into the room. But he was not alone. There was a little blonde boy with him.

"Is this Ash?" She asked Chris. He nodded then she smiled at the young boy. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"How come you have that thing in your nose?" Ash asked. Chris looked mortified but Lex just laughed.

"It's to help me breathe." Lex explained. The five year old inched his way closer to the bed.

"I drew you a picture." Ash said extending his hand to give Lex the rolled up piece of construction paper.

"Thanks Ash that was very sweet of you." the little boy grinned as he leaned against his dad.

"So Ash tell me what do you like to do." Ash rattled on and one for hours telling Lex all about his life. She listened very intently for as long as she could but she eventually fell asleep.

"Daddy is Lex going to be with the angels like Gramma?" The young boy asked his father. Chris fought back the lump in his throat.

"Probably son."

Ash's eyes began to water. "But Lex is my friend. I don't want her to die." Chris wrapped his arms around his boy.

"I know you don't Bud. But maybe if we pray really hard then she will get better." It was then that he noticed the picture that was now sitting on Lex's bedside table. He walked over to it and picked up it. He did not like it one bit. He felt protective of Lex now and there was no way that her spending time with Punk was a good idea.

–

He had just finished for the night. He had lost his match and he was sore. He just wanted to go back to his hotel room and watch some crappy cable. But Chris Jericho had other plans.

"Punk!" He called out. Phil turned around just in time to watch the older man come at him and pin him to a wall.

"Whoa! Man what the hell?" Phil brought his hands up to try and pry the blonde Canadian off of him.

"What do you think you are doing visiting Lex?" At hearing her name Phil's eyes narrowed.

"So now you are the only one that can be nice to her?" He countered. "She's dying and she's a fan. Besides she is funny and a smart ass."

"Stay away from her."

"What do you care? She's not your girlfriend or your daughter. If her old man told me to stay away I would but he hasn't and as long as she wants me around I will be there."

"What do you want with her?" Chris was curious. Phil was a hell of a wrestler that was true but he had heard from many people that he was a dick. He was known to be rude to everyone. So what would a person like that want to do do with such a sweet girl like Lex.

"That is none of your business." He finally shoved Chris off of him. "I am only going to say this once. I am not going anywhere so you can just back the fuck off. I have no problems with you but if you want to start something go right ahead." With that he walked off.

Phil couldn't help but thinking who did Chris think he was. Sure he had been the one to first meet Alexia and introduce her to Vince but that was it. He was in the same position Phil himself was. What he could not understand was why Chris felt so threatened. Chris was a happily married man so he heard so he did not think he wanted anything romantic with Lex. Well at least he hoped not. That would just be weird.

But then Phil took a moment to think about what Chris obviously did not know. He was the only person so far that could save Lex's life. He had the bone marrow she so desperately needed. Surely if Chris were aware of that he would not be trying to keep the younger man away. If fact he would probably be up Phil's ass to help the young woman. Phil just shook his head because none of this made sense to him.

The one thing he did know is that he liked Lex. She was easy to talk to and she was one of the few people besides his family and Natalie and Colt that he could be himself around. He liked the way he could give her shit and she would give it right back to him. But he knew is their time would be short if he did not help her. She was fading fast and he was the only one standing in the way of her recovery.

–

Alexia opened her eyes. She had no idea what time it was. But she did know it was dark out. She was alone in the room. It was very rare now a days that she was ever alone. She knew that everyone sensed that things were getting worse. They knew that if she didn't get her transplant soon she would die. But what they didn't know is that there was a person a lot closer than they thought that could change all of that.

Lex had no doubt that Punk would come through in the end and save her. She understood that he was scared. She would probably feel the same way if the positions were reversed. With that understanding she gave him all the time he needed. When they talked she never brought up the fact that he was her match. She liked to think that he appreciated her all the more for that reason.

Her cellphone signaled that she had received a text. She smiled when she looked down at her screen. She couldn't help but think he must have known that he was on her mind. She read over his message with excitement.

Punk: You awake?

–

Only a few minutes had passed before Punk got his reply. He hadn't even gotten a chance to put his phone down before it signaled that he had a text.

Lex: If I say no would it matter?

Smirking he decided to just call her. He dialed her number and waited patiently for her to answer the phone. He was grinning by now. The incident with Jericho was almost forgotten but not quite.

"I am taking that as a no." was the first thing she said when she answered the phone.

"Probably not."

"How was the house show?" she asked just trying to start up a conversation. She herself had never been to a WWE house show but she had heard that they were a lot of fun.

"It was alright. I jobbed to one of the newer guys but whatever." Jobbing of course was a wrestling term that meant to loose to someone.

"Ah." Alexia replied.

"So what did you do today?" Phil asked. Surely her day had to better than his was.

"Chemo." Was her reply. Obviously he had been wrong. He'd sick with jobbing to a newbie any day over having to go through chemo. But he respected her for going through it.

"So your buddy Jericho attacked me tonight after the show." Phil took it upon himself to let her know because he knew Chris wasn't going to.

"What did you do to him first?" Phil was slightly offended that she would ask this. But he knew that she knew he was not always the nicest person. So he just accepted the jab.

"I did nothing to him. Honest. He told me he wanted me to stay away from you. He thinks that I am a bad influence on you or something. I dunno." He shifted his phone to his other ear. "So why haven't you told him about me being a match?"

"It's not my business to tell. It's your body. Your decision. I am sure that if you wanted people to know you would tell them." she remarked.

"You can tell them you know."

"I could but I don't want to. Not yet."

"You mean not until you know if I am really going to go through with it?" He asked. She sighed she was too tired to have an argument with him right now.

"I did not say that Punk. I do not think that at all. But I respect that it's a decision that you have to make. I am not going to force you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to have to force you to do anything. I am not afraid to die Punk. And I do not blame you if you decide not to do this."

"How can you sit there and give me that choice?" He countered her. He could not believe what was coming out of her mouth. "You will die if I don't."

"So." Phil was pacing now. He was so enraged part of him wanted to hang up the phone right at that moment and throw it across the room. How could she be so stupid?

"So you want to die?"

"No, but I am also not going to force you to do something you do not want to do. You have to be the one to make the right choice."

"Why are you doing this to me? If you just told me to I would at least I think I would. But you won't you will let me agonize over it."

"You are a big boy Punk. Sometimes you need to make hard choices." Was all she would say.

"You are no help at all." He ran his hand through his long hair.

"Deal with it." The next thing he heard was a dial tone. He swore he could see red.

"What an immature little brat." He snapped throwing his phone into his gym bag. "Screw her. She needs me way more than I need her."


	9. When We Were Young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil has a heart to heart with Lex's mom

He strode across the floor. His conversation with Lex from the week before was still burned into his brain. He stopped short when he saw Diana leaning against the wall outside her room. The mother looked up when she felt someone watching her.

"Today is not a good day Philip." She told him. With two large strides he was standing in front of the now shaking woman.

"What's the matter? Is Lex alright?" Panic filled his hazel eyes. He was so afraid that something had happened to her.

"She's alright for the moment. She tries to be so strong but sometimes she flies into these rages. She's having a fit right now." Diana was shaking so badly that Phil put an arm around her afraid that she was going to fall.

"Come on. I think you need to take a break. There is a Starbucks down the street. I am not taking no for an answer." He gently led her towards the elevators.

They walked in silence. Phil kept stealing glances at the older woman every few seconds. She had stopped shaking by this point but she still looked terrible. He opened the door to Starbucks for her and watched as she walked in and had a seat at one of the tables.

"How do you take your coffee?" He asked her.

"Just regular with cream and sugar." she replied before placing her head in her hands.

Phil ordered Diana's coffee and a pumpkin spice latte for himself. He returned a few moments later with both drinks. Diana's head was still in her hands when he took the seat across from her. She looked up at him with tear soaked eyes.

"I was so young when I had her. I was foolish and stupid. I took risks and now she has to suffer." Phil was taken aback by the sudden confession. Sure Lex had told him about her mother's past but it was different to hear it from her. "She was the tiniest little baby I had ever seen but she was so beautiful." she looked up at him with pleading eyes, she needed him to understand. "I was only a few months younger than she is right now when she was born."

"Lex mentioned to me a while back about her birth." He put it nicely.

"You must think I am the shittiest person on early." She commented. She did not blame him if he did.

"No, I don't. Just because I live the way I do I don't expect every one to live the same way. To each his own right? Sure doing what you did while pregnant was not the smartest thing to do but like you said you were young. And you have no idea if it has anything to do with the leukemia." He reasoned. "She could have been born perfectly healthy and still gotten it." Phil felt so out of his comfort zone. He was not one of those types of people who knew how to make others feel good. He was usually the one criticizing others. But he could not kick this poor woman while she was so obviously hating herself.

She took a sip of the coffee he had gotten her. "But the fact that she was so premature and sickly did not help matters. Maybe if I had been smarter her immune system would have been better and she could have fought harder."

"I don't think it would have mattered honestly. Besides what's done is done there is no use sitting around kicking yourself about what you should have or could have done differently."

"Can I ask you a question Philip?" she looked at him. Her head was cocked slightly to the side as she tried to phrase what she was about to ask.

"Yea sure."

"Why Lex?"

"I don't understand." he replied.

"What I mean to say is you are a professional wrestler. You work with some of the most beautiful women out there. You travel all around the world and meet all kinds of different people but on your rare days off you travel all the way here to see my daughter."

Phil really didn't have an answer for her. "To be honest I am not really sure." It was not necessarily a lie. He had no idea why he had really gone to visit her on her birthday. He had just felt compelled to. But then he did and he found out that he didn't mind talking to the sick young woman. But now he knew that he was her match, the one person who literally held her life in his hands. But still he was not sure why he was so interested.

"She holds you in great esteem you know." Phil could hardly believe that. After all he was an asshole to everyone most of the time, even Lex. "No she seriously does. She had a lot of respect for your career and the whole straight edge lifestyle."

There was silence then. Phil thought about what Diana had told him. It made him feel good knowing that Lex liked him so much. She didn't see him as CM Punk, the wrestler, she saw him as Philip Brooks, the man.

He knew what he had to do. "Diana I have to go. Are you going to be alright to get back to the hospital?" He asked.

"Yes- but is everything alright?" she questioned him a little concerned.

"Maybe." He answered vaguely. He was not sure yet. But he hoped everything would be alright in the end. "I will see you a little later." He gave her a small smile before he left the coffee place.

Diana shrugged and continued to drink her coffee. She would head back to the hospital in a few minutes. For the present moment she would try to figure out what was going on between he daughter and the WWE superstar.


	10. Hold Your Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil has finally made his choice with very little time left he knows what he needs to do. He has to be brave and do that right thing before it is too late. But has too much passed? Is it already too late?

Countless hours of learning more  
Countless hours of knowing less  
Can't look behind you  
You have to look ahead.

"Is it over yet?" Phil asked as he sat with his eyes closed. The nurse taking his blood could not help but laugh.

"You have tattoos and piercings yet you are afraid of a little blood draw." she remarked.

"When I am getting a tattoo or a piercing I do not have to watch the blood being taken from my body." He retorted.

The nurse had to give him that one. Some people were not big on have blood taken. Apparently he was one of those people. "All done." She said taking the tourniquet off of his arm. "the results will be ready in about ten minutes. But let me tell you the people in the lab are not your biggest fans at the moment."

"It's to save someone's life. They can get over it. Lord forbid they actually do their jobs." He scoffed.

"Hey don't shoot the messenger." she said. Then she handed him a sharpie and a piece of paper. "Make it out to my son Justin." Phil had been forced to bribe the nurse with an autograph for her son in order to get her to make sure they rushed the test results.

To Justin:

You will never be as awesome as I am so don't bother trying

-CM Punk

"Seriously." she looked at the autograph. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the wrestler.

"You never said it had to be a nice autograph. And compared to some of the stuff I have written to people that it nice." he justified. "I am just a prick. What do you want me to tell ya?"

"Just leave. I will give you a call when everything comes back." she ordered before he could give her an even bigger headache.

"Make sure her doctors get that stuff right away. This needs to be done as soon as possible."

"ASAP. I got it." She waved him off.

–

He walked out of the outpatient lab grinning. Why was he a dick to everyone he met? Well because he could be. He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt closer over his face in hopes he did not get recognized. Most people left him alone.

Although he was still scared out of his mind he knew it needed to be done, and the sooner the better. He had been to this hospital too many times as he could now get around to the places he needed to do with ease.

He was not all that surprised when he stepped off the elevator that Diana was in the same place she was before. But she was not alone this time. Lex's whole family was there. Dread filled his body and with each step he took it just seemed to get worse.

"Diana-I" he wanted to tell her that he was a match. That he was going to be the one to save Lex but when he saw her face he stopped talking.

"Phil, Alexia went into cardiac arrest." Ted had to speak for his wife. She looked even worse than she did before.

"Is she-" He couldn't bring himself to say the word dead. He didn't think he could take it if he had to hear it either. He started at the floor then because he did not know what else to do. This was not something he was prepared for.

"No." Phil looked at at Ted with hope. "She's really bad though. She's on a CPAP machine and sedated. At this rate she will not make it the rest of the week."

"Where are her doctors. I need to talk to them right now." Phil insisted.

"Why?" Both parents looked at the man in confusion. Both of them had wondered why he had taken such an interest. But now it was getting to be a little too much.

"Because I am a match." He finally admitted and and felt better for doing so. "I've had all the tests that confirm it."

"Phil I-" Diana started only to be cut off by the younger man.

"I should have- no Lex should have told you sooner. But I am here and ready."

"You bastard!" Diana slapped him hard across the face. He looked at her stunned. "You have known for how long? She had been getting worse and worse and now after her damn heart has stopped now you say something."

Phil rubbed his cheek and just stared at Lex's mother. Normally if anyone ever just came up to him and slapped him in the face he would have been pissed. But this time he felt like he deserved it. He knew how bad off Lex was and yet still he waited.

"Look do you want my help or not. I agree I should have said something earlier and I am sorry but I am here now so let's get this shit done." Phil stood his ground. Sure he was in the wrong here but if he was going to go down he would go down swinging.

"Come on Diana let's go find Dr. Mercer." Ted gently pulled his wife along with him. It would do no good if she killed the young man before he could help their daughter.

It was just Phil and Lex's whole entire family now. He looked at them briefly before going to stand against a wall. He tried to block out their stares as much as possible. But soon enough he felt someone tug on the sleeve of his hoodie. He looked down at a little blonde haired girl. She was smiling up at him.

"Hi Punk." He recognized her voice from the phone.

"Hi Rugrat. What's your name?" He asked.

"Makenzie." the little girl replied. "We saw you on the tv."

"Yea you told me that on the phone." he said. He was trying to be nice but he wasn't really a big fan of kids. "So do you like wrestling?"

"Sometimes." she replied. "Lex watches with me and my brother." she pointed over to where her twin was sitting. He was playing with a few of his toy wrestlers. He looked at at Phil for a moment before hiding his face.

"Are you guys twins?" Punk asked. He would have to admit at least two members of Lex's family liked him. Granted they were kids and had no idea what an ass he truly was.

"Yea we're three." She held up three little fingers for him to see. "This many."

"Mak come back over here." They both looked at to see a woman was staring at them. It was obvious enough to Phil that she was the young girl's mother.

"I think your Mommy wants you to go back and sit with here now." he said to the little girl.

"You're gonna make Lex all better right?" the young girl asked. "She told me and Nick that you would."

"I am going to try." He assured her.

"Ok. Bye Punk." She waved at him before going back to sit with her mother.

He sunk down to the floor them. He was leaning against the wall with his knees propped up in front of him. He let his head rest against his knees and closed his eyes. This was way too much for him at the moment. He wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else, at that moment. With his eyes still closed he began mouthing the words to his favorite song. Anything to get his mind off Lex and the fact that her whole family was sitting there probably judging him. Normally he would not care, he'd probably tell them all to go fuck themselves. But this time he felt that they were justified.

He looked up, most of the relatives were talking amongst themselves. He stood up and walked away from them. He needed to call Vince and explain things to him. He figured the boss would be understanding because he was saving Lex's life. Vince seemed surprised when he talked to Phil on the phone but he wished him luck none the less.

Phil felt empty when he placed his cell phone back into his pocket. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel. Maybe a little good about himself. He was literally going to be saving someone's life. But he didn't, he felt cold.

When he returned to the waiting room with the family the doctor was there waiting for him. He shook Phil's hand.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yea." Phil said before starting to follow him. "Wait can I talk to her for a minute before I go?" He looked at her parents. Her father nodded towards him. He kept his head down as he walked towards the room.

So many doubts running through your mind  
All the excuses  
Don't have the time  
All the rejection you have to leave behind

He shut the door behind him. Lex was laying very still. Her hands had been restrained and there were tubes sticking out of her mouth to help her breathe. He stood over her and grabbed her hand with his own.

"I am sorry kid. It took me this long. I am so so sorry. But I am going to do the right thing. I promise." He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. "You will get better. I won't let you die. Not because of me." He let go of her hand and walked out of the room.

He looked at Alexia's parents once more. The way Ted was holding onto his wife or the way Diana had her head resting on his chest while she cried. He had never thought of himself as a horrible person more than he did at that moment. He gave them a heart-breaking look before following the doctor.

"We need you to sign this consent form Phil." He signed it without bothering to read it. It all seemed to slow down from there. They were handing him a hospital jonnie after that. He changed into it. Then they were asking him all these questions.

Then he was laying on his side on the stretcher. "Alright Phil I am going to inject the site with a local anesthetic." She injected a needle into the back of his hip. She waited a few minutes for it to take effect. Then she went ahead and stuck him with another needle. "Do you feel that Phil?" She asked.

"No." He repled.

"Good." She kept twisting the needle over and over again until she felt the little pop signaling that she had gotten through the bone. "You are going to fee a sort of sharp tugging sensation for a moment Phil. Don't be alarmed." She pulled out a long screw looking piece out of the back to the needle before placing a syringe where the screw had just left. A thick red liquid began filling up the syringe. It came out slowly.

"You are doing good Phil." Once she filled the syringe she pulled the whole needle out of Phil's back. "I am going to have to try another spot now Phil." She ended up extracting from a different place in the back of his hip and then from two spots in the front. But she felt they had gotten enough for what they needed it for.

"All done." she announced. She placed the now four filled syringes. She placed bandages over the puncture wounds and helped Phil carefully roll onto his back.

"How long before the anesthesia wears off?" He wanted to know when he should expect the pain.

"In a few hours." She told the tattoo covered man. "But you can ask for something to help with the pain. They will probably give you some ibuprofen."

–

They moved him to a room soon after. If they expected him to sleep they were mistaken. He could not have slept even if he wanted to. He had too many things on his mind. He texted Maria explaining what he had just done. He was sure that she would be thrilled. He was about to put his phone away when it began vibrating in his hand.

"Hello." He said unsurely. He had not recognized the number but decided to answer it anyways.

"Vince told me what you did." Phil rolled his eyes. He wasn't surprised that Jericho had called him. He honestly thought the man would have had him on the phone during the procedure.

"It was the right thing to do." Phil shifted in the hospital bed a little trying to get comfortable but he doubted he would ever be.

'Why didn't you tell me the night I attacked you?" Chris asked.

"I didn't think it would have changed anything." Phil replied. "You wanted to think that I was this horrible guy trying to hurt Lex. Well you were wrong. I saved her and I do care."

"I can see that now. I am sorry." Phil was a little surprised. But he respected Jericho a little more now that he had apologized.

"Thank you man." Phil smiled a little. "By the way her mom has one hell of a slap." Jericho laughed because he could only imagine what had brought Diana to slap the younger man.

"Get some rest Phil. Vince wants you back as soon as humanly possible." Phil had no doubts about that.

He felt a lot better about himself as he laid in that hospital bed. Sure he had been afraid but he had gotten over it and did the right thing. Now only time would tell if it even made a difference. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

–

When he woke up the next morning he was surprised to find someone was holding his hand. He looked towards his left and there was Lex sitting up in a chair watching television.

"Hey Lexie Loo." he said. "What are you doing in here?"

She looked over at him and smiled. "Well after they took me off the propofol. They gave me the marrow and as soon as that was over I wanted to come see you. They told me no but I threw a bitch fit and here I am."

"You gave everyone a scare yesterday." He sat up a little. He immediately let out a groan as he did so. He had forgotten how sore they said he would be.

"What can I say I like to piss people off." Was her reply. "My mom told me she hit you. Are you alright?"

"Nothing I haven't gotten before."

"Listen Phil. I wanted to thank you if it was not for you I don't know what I would have done. And I know that I am nowhere near out of the woods but I know I will be. I just cannot wait to be all done with the chemo and the radiation. I can't wait to have hair again." she grinned at him. For the first time since she had met him she did not look sick to him. He could see her in a way he had never seen her before. She was beautiful.

"You called me Phil. You never called me by my given name before." He smiled at her.

"I felt you deserved it." she patted his hand. "So you go home today that is good. Vince says you can have the rest of the week off. You should go spend some time with Natalie." she said referring to his best friend.

"I might just do that. But as soon as you get better I am taking you to Chicago so you can meet her."

"That sounds good to me." she agreed.

"So what's good to eat in this joint?" Phil asked. "Because I am starving."

"Well why didn't you say so. I will call up my personal chef." She laughed. "My mother is forever in your debt all I have to do is call her up and you can have anything you want for breakfast."

"Pancakes sound good to me right about now." he said.

"Coming right up." She grabbed his cell phone off the bedside table. "Hey mom I was wondering if you could make me and Phil some pancakes and bacon and bring it to us." she grinned before hanging up the phone.

"She will be here in an hour with breakfast." Lex informed the wrestler.

"Don't you think it is sort of cruel to make her not only make but bring us breakfast?" Phil asked.

"Yes normally I would but she feels so guilty about things now that she wants to do things for me. So why not let her. It makes her feel good to feel like she is useful."

"I suppose." He just hoped Lex would not get used to abusing her mother like that. But he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't.

"I am going to miss seeing you." Lex said which caught him off guard.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well now that I am on the mend I am sure you have better things to do then come and visit me." she said.

"Kiddo you are stuck with me forever." he said. "You have my blood running through your veins now."

"Does that mean I am suddenly going to turn into a huge asshole?" she asked before letting out a laugh.

"Ha ha very funny." He remarked dryly.

"I thought so." she replied with a smirk. "See it's started already." again she laughed.

"Is that anyway to treat the man who saved you?" he asked not finding her teasing the least bit funny.

"Well what would you like?" she asked.

He grinned at her. "How about a kiss?" he was just kidding around with her. "You have kissed a guy before right?"

"Of course I have. I am not a little child. You want a kiss fine." she grabbed his face brought her lips to his. Obviously he was surprised but he wrapped his arm around her to pull her closer. She was the first to let go. But she was smirking at him.

"Where did you learn to kiss like that?" he asked.

"Told you I have kissed guys before." she laughed. "Before I got sick Mike and I well we sorta dated."

"What does sorta dated mean?" he asked.

"Well we went out a few times and me made out a lot but I just couldn't sleep with him. It was just too weird, he was my friend."

"Have you ever? Ya know been with a guy?" her face turned bright red.

"Yes I have." But he could tell she was lying.

"You're lying. It's ok you know."

"It's none of your business." she snapped. Obviously he had hit on a sore spot.

"You are right it is none of my business." He agreed and was willing to drop the subject all together.

"It's not easy to be comfortable enough with yourself when you are sick like that you know." she said.

"Hey I am not judging you at all." He threw his hands up in the air. "It's cool believe me it really is."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes Alexia it is. One day you are going to meet some amazing guy and then when it does happen it will be worth it."

"Is that what happened with you?"

"Well no but I am a guy and there is a whole different set of rules for us. We do not care about stuff the way you females do."

"Dude just shut up while you are ahead." she laughed and just like that their awkward moment was over.

You'll find strength  
When people bring you down  
They will see  
If you will only, only believe.


End file.
